


All the Magic in the World

by ixiepixie



Series: A Game of Cards and Chess [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Cardverse, Gift Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 14:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15951143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ixiepixie/pseuds/ixiepixie
Summary: There must be more magic in this world than just fairy tales and myths.





	All the Magic in the World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheNarcolepticOne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNarcolepticOne/gifts).



> For Narco!!! Love ya!!!!!

Of all the kingdoms in the world, Spades was the one with the highest number of successful marriages between the royals. Whether they were lovers before being crowned, fell in love through an arranged marriage, or just became good friends without romance, the royal lineage was filled to the brim with happy, or at least satisfied couples. So when the news came that the crown Prince of Spades would be taking a Queen, all eyes were on who would be selected to take his hand. Prince Alfred had never shown much interest in anyone at all before, be they maidens or even other men. The lad just didn’t want romance, and this had most of the public taking bets with one another on what would happen should a marriage be arranged for him.

Would he fall in love at first sight, like King James the Just and his Queen, Aria of Diamonds? He could possibly just be good friends with his chosen match, much like his grandparents, King Alphonse and Queen Mellani. The third bet among the common folk, and the one that had gained the most popularity, was that Prince Alfred had a secret lover that he would reveal sometime soon, unable to accept being forced to marry another. The scandal! It was the talk of every barmaid and innkeep across the land.

Unfortunately for all their bets, the truth was more dull. Prince Alfred just wasn’t interested, plain and simple. His parents had thrown countless parties among noble and foreign folk alike, introducing him to eligible bachelorettes and bachelors from across the four kingdoms. No one had ever caught his eye, not even once. It was enough to drive his parents up a wall, the way he dismissed all of their picks with hardly a glance. It didn’t help that Alfred was always in the royal library, looking up nonsense about the age of court wizards and asking countless inane questions about why no one had a magic counselor anymore. Every time, his parents would brush off his questions with a simple ‘wizards no longer exist’ excuse.

That explanation just never felt good enough to Alfred.

It wasn’t until he was nearing the deadline that was his 18th birthday, that he stumbled upon an old map tucked away in the binding of a fairy tale book. The map gave detailed instructions on how to find an ancient wizard’s tower within the Spades Kingdom, a place where all supposed magic users in the kingdom got sent before they became a danger to the crown. At least, that was how the fable went anyway. It could be a hoax, but how was he to know unless he went to see for himself?

Under the guise of going out on a hunt, Alfred galloped away, the map tucked in his jacket. It wasn’t hard to lose his royal escorts, and the guards were all too used to his free spirit that most of them shrugged it off and decided to wait in the area. He always came back, after all, and they weren’t currently at war. Confident that he was not being followed, Alfred rode off into the woods, following this map to the letter. He had to try and be fast about this, as his guards were sure to notice he wasn’t coming back by the time the sun began to set. That gave him a solid half a day to get far enough along on this trail that they wouldn’t find him. He hoped.

This map had some cryptic writings as directions, but it wasn’t anything Alfred couldn’t decipher. He had spent a long time scouting out these woods, as well as studying maps of his Kingdom. None of the maps ever mentioned the wizard tower directly, but a lot of the landmarks from this map were definitely familiar to him. As he found the first landmark, a rock shaped like a dragon’s claw, Alfred reflected on what his parents had told him of their plans. His impending marriage was weighing heavily on their minds, as well as his own. It wasn’t his fault that everyone he’d ever been shown was just so... boring! Since falling in love with and marrying a commoner wasn’t as easy as the story books made it out to be, he would likely end up having to settle for someone he would merely tolerate. Apparently, that meant a marriage of power between Spades and Clubs. There was no way in hell he would ever marry someone from that frozen waste.

Alfred had been so engrossed in his thoughts, that he’d nearly missed the second landmark. The old stone obelisk was a war memorial from hundreds of years ago, yet it still stood tall amongst the great oak trees of the Spadien forest. Of course, it was covered in moss and vines, but someone always made sure to come out here and clear the foliage away from the plaque.

‘Unto ..... we mustn’t tread, for fear of unearthing former dread.’

“Huh... it’s missing a word, I wonder who defaced it? Guess when i get back i should have someone come repair it. If anyone knows the words anymore.” Al muttered to himself as he rode on, studying the map closely.

The next landmark he had to keep an eye out for was going to be the old Spade’s palace ruins. Ancient stones of a time long long forgotten, Alfred wasn’t even sure how old they were. None of the books in the library knew either, that’s how old they were. If their own historians and researchers hadn’t found them a few years ago, it would have been almost impossible for Al to even spot them. Apparently they had been absolutely covered in assorted flora and fauna, the only visible section looking almost like the remains of a cottage. Because of how inconspicuous that arrangement of stone was, no scholars had ever even guessed that the remnants of an old palace had been in the area. 

The camp ahead told Alfred all he needed to know. It seemed that a lot of scholars remained in the area to continue their studies. There was so much to discover, and one report he’d read mentioned that not even half of the ruins were even uncovered yet. Some speculated that they stretched across much of the forest itself, buried partly underground. It was all so fascinating to Alfred, but his parents never let him come out to see the dig sites. If only he’d been born with the option to become a scholar instead of a Prince.

Slipping past the campsite as quietly as he could, Alfred made sure to refer to his map again. The location of the wizard tower wasn’t far off now. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised of the tower itself was just another section of these palace ruins, the fairytale being used to fluff up the myth about it all. That sounded about right. With a sigh, Al glanced around the woods. Lush greens and vivid blues vanished into darkness in all directions. The trees out here were some of the oldest and most sacred in the kingdom, many of them as tall as the guard towers back in the city. About to turn around and give up on his search, a sparkle among the leaves to the North caught his attention. It could be another camp full of scholars, or maybe some hunters in the forest searching for game to sell the pelts of, or it could be nothing at all and he was just seeing things. None of those thoughts stopped him from pressing on to investigate it.

Before long, Alfred came upon a grove of thick bushes. That was odd, he could have sworn the path looked clear when he was further off, yet suddenly all these prickly bushes blocked the road. Since his horse refused to move forward any longer, Alfred was left with the options to either turn around, or to move forward on foot. Stubborn as he was, Al decided to press on, but not before he steeled himself for the pain of getting a bunch of thorns in his skin.

That pain never came.

As he stepped into the thorn bushes, they didn’t touch him. The plants instead dissolved away, revealing what he had been looking for all along was exactly where the map had said it was. A large tower, almost as tall as the ancient trees surrounding it, stood before him in all of it’s magical glory. Those bushes had been an illusion! A magical illusion! Magic was real and he had finally found where all of the mages in the kingdom had gone! 

Aaaand they had also found him. Shit.

While Alfred had been basking in this revelation, a group of people, all with magic wands pointed at him, had managed to encircle the young prince. He was certain that they were all ready to kill him, but an elderly voice froze them all in their tracks.

“Stand down, young ones! Our guest mustn’t be harmed!” An elder wizard, the kind that all the fable and myth books had described, stepped towards Alfred with a hand extended. “A pleasure to meet you, your highness.”

“Wait, you know who I am?” Alfred questioned, surprised that even the secluded old wizards out here knew who he was.

The wizened old man shared a hearty laugh, shaking his head with the fondness of a grandfather watching his grandkids at play. “I’ve known you since you were very small, young man. I have been waiting for you to stumble upon our little safe haven for quite a while now.”

Confused, Alfred allowed the wizard to explain, listening to him intently as he spoke. “I am Bazol, the caretaker of this tower and all its occupants. From those whose parents had abandoned them for fear of their gift, to those who had sought me out of their own accord, just as you have.”

“So you’re saying that you teach some kind of wizard school here..?” Alfred tried to wrap his head around it all. “I mean, this tower is practically a city itself, a miniature kingdom within a kingdom!”

“That was the idea, when we were first banished here many years ago.” Bazil paused to cough. “All magic users would be sent here to protect the kingdom. All four major kingdoms have their own towers, all meant to keep history from repeating itself...”

That had Alfred’s mind reeling. There was no talk of magic in any history books he’d ever read, not even the oldest they had! Of course, even those were only a few hundred years old, since many library texts were apparently lost at some point. Alfred now had doubts on how true that excuse was.

“I can see that you are having trouble believing me. Your father had similar troubles when he sought me out, many years ago.” Bazil chuckled to himself, leading Alfred inside the tower. “Perhaps my own grandson would be willing to enlighten you himself. He pours over those historical texts nearly every day.”

“You have a grandson? Who likes history?” That had Alfred very intrigued indeed.

They moved into a new room, a library of sorts, with books piled high in stacks all over the place. A lot of them looked ancient, though there were a few here and there that seemed to be more recent in their printing. It was almost as if the old texts of the royal library had been moved here! That would certainly explain how they had so many, despite being secluded.

A figure in a black cloak was hunched over a book in the corner, a teacup in one hand. Tousled sandy blond hair stuck up in all directions, as if this guy had just gotten out of bed mere minutes ago. Piercing green eyes soon met with Alfred’s own blue, and he felt frozen in place almost instantly. He’d never seen eyes so beautiful in his life, so alive with knowledge and understanding of things Alfred could only dream of comprehending. They were absolutely beautiful.

Closing his book, the grandson stood and bowed. “Prince Alfred, I presume? My grandfather told me to expect you at some point in the future, though he enjoys being cryptic and not giving exact dates, even if he knows them.”

Holy shit, that voice. Alfred struggled to think of a response, his cheeks tinted a nice pink color as his views on romance made a huge one-eighty. In the end, he only managed to stare dumbly and blurt out, “Holy Jokers, your eyebrows-”

Not much more came out of his mouth after that. It was like an invisible hand was holding his mouth shut. It took mere seconds to realize that this was the work of magic, if the wand pointed at him was any indication. Angry green eyes stared into his very soul. Beautiful.

“What was that about my eyebrows?? They are perfectly normal!” The young wizard huffed out as he crossed his arms. “My name is Arthur, if you even cared to know, and I am the resident expert on all historical texts.”

Alfred really wished that he could speak right now, eager to chat about history with someone who was so interested, just like he was. The magic Arthur had used, however, prevented him from doing much more other than offering an excited nod of his head. The action seemed to please Arthur, who beamed with pride as he began to rattle off facts about the Spadien monarchies from thousands of years ago.

At some point, Arthur’s grandfather had left them alone, and the spell eventually wore off. Not that Alfred gave a damn. He was far too preoccupied watching Arthur’s lips move and taking in all of this information that was new to him. When Arthur began nearing the last few hundred years, however, Alfred noticed some stark differences with what he had learnt in all his own studies.

“The Great War was an awful affair. My grandfather remembers it well enough, as he was just a boy when it happened, but these texts fill in any gaps in his memory with first hand accounts from countless soldiers and frontline wizards-” Arthur paused for dramatic effect, “-until they were all banished! The Royals of the Four Kingdoms, as well as all of their court wizards, decided it would be best if magic was never used for war again. However, an agreement could not be adequately reached, until my grandfather’s mother came up with the idea of these mage towers.”

Alfred leaned forward, listening intently as Arthur continued the tale. “You see, no Kingdom wanted any other to still have mages living amongst the people, for fear that one may plan in secret to magically attack another. So the towers were selected and all known mages were sent into seclusion, able to freely practice magic amongst ourselves without fear or persecution.”

A frown graced those pale pink lips, Arthur running a hand through his own hair. “It has been four generations since mages were free to roam about... many of the younger members of the tower have been scheming. They want to try to take the Kingdom over, and I’m sure they aren’t the only ones thinking this way. If mages went against non-magic users in an all out war, there is no question that Spades would fall into their destructive hands.”

“What can i do to prevent that then?” Alfred finally spoke up, looking determined. “There’s no way I would ever let anything like that happen to my Kingdom, but there has to be a way to resolve this without such conflict.”

Having been listening to them from outside, Bazil stepped into the library to offer his own advice. “I propose an arranged marriage. The Prince of Spades... and the grandson of the Master Wizard.”

Arthur squaked in surprise. “Grandfather! That’s ridiculous!”

The offer had taken Alfred by surprise as well, but he soon caught on. “You’re like a miniature kingdom... this would be a marriage to unite them!”

“You catch on fast, young man. Arthur, would you be willing to marry this boy? To free us all from this tower?” Bazil placed a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, a gentle smile on his face. “You can say no if you wish.”

Expression unreadable, Arthur seemed to be mulling the offer over in his mind. The anticipation had Alfred on edge. He couldn’t help it as he blurted out, “I-I think you would make a perfect Queen!”

The room fell silent, tension building in the air between the three of them. Arthur had met Alfred’s eyes in surprise, searching his face for any hint of a lie. Face red as the binding of a freshly printed book, Alfred held his breath. He had never thought of himself ever having a romantic partner, but Arthur changed something within him. This was someone he could have endless chats with about the many books they have studied, not to mention he could do magic! If there was ever a chance of Alfred finding love, this was it.

Arthur held out a hand, almost shyly. “I suppose... there are worse things I could do with my life.”

Holy shit stick, he said yes! At least, Alfred thought that was a yes. Probably was. Maybe. Bazil seemed to think it was, which was proof enough for Al! The atmosphere of the room settled, a nervous excitement taking the place of the tension from before.

Bowing low and taking Arthur’s hand to place a kiss upon it, Alfred couldn’t help but grin.

“You’re not half bad yourself, my Queen.”


End file.
